Cristiano Ronaldo Comments on Doubters After Scoring 100th European Goal

Cristiano Ronaldo has said he wasn't aware of any doubters before scoring a match-winning brace against Bayern Munich in Real Madrid's 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday. The pair of strikes made Ronaldo the first player ever to score 100 goals in European competition.

Los Merengues secured a valuable 2-1 win at the Allianz Arena thanks to Ronaldo's second-half double, and after beIN Sports asked the player if he knew why some doubted his talents, he said (h/t ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan):

I don't know who doubted me. The people who love Cristiano never had any doubts. You'd have to tell me who kept doubting as it never reached me.

I am very happy. The team reacted very well, it is not easy to play here, against a very difficult team. Even losing at the break, we had a good feeling for the second half. We played very well, we scored early and the game became easier. The victory is deserved although it leaves things very open for the return game.

Ronaldo's last Champions League goal prior to Wednesday's game-winning display came against Borussia Dortmund all the way back in September, but he silenced many of his critics against one of the tournament's favourites in midweek.

As only a player of his calibre can be, Ronaldo was prepared for his century of strikes and celebrated the accolade with a montage on his Instagram page, proof if ever it was needed he pays no mind to any supposed doubters:

While it's true Javi Martinez's sending off on the hour mark tilted the game in Real's favour, Ronaldo nonetheless showed supreme nous to get in the right place at the right time on two separate occasions.

Stretching back to his time at Manchester United, Goal also lauded the Portugal captain's extraordinary goal contribution over the past decade and more, averaging a hand in more than one goal per game in league and European competitions:

Wednesday evening could have been an even more prolific night for Ronaldo, however, were it not for the heroics of Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who pulled off a string of late saves to deny Real's man his hat-trick.

Ronaldo hailed the German's efforts in his post-match comments and added: "Neuer was very good, he made some saves. Sometimes we score, other times we don't. If Neuer does not have a day like this, we could have scored more goals."

One person who certainly won't count himself among any doubting contingent is Ronaldo's former United team-mate Rio Ferdinand, who detailed some of the work ethic behind the forward's production rate on BT Sport:

Ronaldo has scored 28 goals in 37 appearances for his club this season. The 32-year-old is on course for his lowest-scoring league campaign since 2009-10, too, with only 19 of those goals having come in La Liga this term.

Yet Real remain at La Liga's summit and with the upper hand in their Champions League quarter-final, proving that even a Ronaldo performing below his best may be enough to win some of the biggest accolades in European football.

This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.

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